


This Road That I Call Home

by aurons_fan



Series: The Misadventures of Rooming with Friends [13]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Engagement, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Graduation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 13:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5166032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurons_fan/pseuds/aurons_fan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One night, Sora woke up and realized Riku wasn’t in bed.</p><p>In the back of his mind, Sora knew that prying would result in Riku saying even less, so Sora gave him space. Maybe, whatever was bothering Riku would end and he could sleep, and then he would come talk to Sora about it.</p><p>But Sora hated waiting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Road That I Call Home

**Author's Note:**

> Will this series ever end  
> Who knows  
> Let us continue this adventure, my friends. 
> 
> (Title from "Am I Wrong" by Nico & Vinz)

One night, around two am, Sora woke up and realized Riku wasn’t in bed.

At first, Sora was a bit concerned and would climb out of bed, but a quick glance in the living room showed Riku simply sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. So Sora would shrug and climb back into bed, because, hey, it was the middle of the night.

But then it started happening night after night. Besides the fact that Sora liked snuggling up with Riku (it was getting _cold_ , dammit), it was getting really obvious that Riku wasn’t sleeping well. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to grow every single day, and when he came home from work, he would simply collapse into bed with barely a word to Sora.

In the back of his mind, Sora knew that prying would result in Riku saying even _less_ , so Sora gave him space. Maybe, whatever was bothering Riku would end and he could sleep, and _then_ he would come talk to Sora about it.

But Sora hated waiting.

But when Sora’s eyes blinked open one night, around two or three am, he half expected to see Riku’s side of the bed empty, as it had been for the past week or so. Instead, Riku was letting out a series of low moans and curling onto himself.

Sora’s eyes snapped opened, and he grabbed at Riku’s arm. “Riku?” He whispered, shaking Riku’s arm gently. He wasn’t quite sure _why_ he was whispering, but he was afraid of speaking to loud.

It was like Sora set something off. Instead of, say, waking up and cuddling into Sora (or hell, even just walking away), Riku started thrashing about. Sora instinctively jumped back, eyes wide, before trying to wrap his arms around Riku.

“Riku, Riku, wake up!”

His arms went slack when one of Riku’s hands smacked Sora across the face. Sora bit back the shout of pain and shook Riku even harder.

“Riku!” Sora shouted, ignoring the fact that it was the middle of the night because Riku was caught in the middle of something horrible and would not wake the fuck _up_.

Riku jumped like someone had dropped a bucket of ice water on him. His eyes snapped open and began darting around the room wildly, before finally settling on Sora. “I…” Riku said, rubbing a hand against his eyes. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”

Sora ignored Riku (as he did when his boyfriend--- _fiancée_ ) was being ridiculous and flicked on the desk light. “Riku, what’s wrong?” Sora said, trying to keep the pleading out of his voice, and failing at it quite spectacularly.

“Sora, it’s nothing I…” Riku’s voice trailed off as he turned to face Sora, before sitting up quickly. “What happened?” Sora blinked and Riku cupped his face. Ah, yes, that. Sora winced and nudged closer to Riku’s hand. When Sora didn’t respond, Riku’s eyes widened. “Did I do that?”

“I’ll be fine,” Sora said, as Riku climbed off the bed and walked out of the room. Sora frowned to himself, let out a sigh, and followed Riku into the living room. He might have wrapped a blanket around his shoulders as well cause it was early as hell in the morning and Riku was being all cryptic.

The light was on in the kitchen, and as he approached, he saw Riku staring into the freezer, expression defeated. “I thought we had ice,” Riku said, not turning to Sora. 

Sora shrugged and reached past him, grabbing the package of frozen peas that neither of them ever felt like cooking. “It’s okay,” Sora said, placing the package on his face. He felt a little stupid, but he also didn’t really give a shit, and moved closer to Riku. “What's wrong?”

Riku didn’t even react to the cold of the peas against his shoulder. He just let out a sigh, shut the freezer, and wrapped his arms around Sora. “I’m sorry I hit you,” he said, mainly into Sora’s hair. “I’ve been having these dreams over and over and _over_ and they won’t fucking _stop_.”

Sora rested his chin against Riku’s chest. “About what?”

With a gentle kiss to Sora’s forehead, Riku let out a deep sigh. Sora awkwardly maneuvered them in a way that, in any other situation, would’ve been stupid as hell to watch, but Riku wasn’t really thinking, and eventually they made it to the living room. Riku sat and Sora snuggled in beside him.

“I just...” Riku said, sighing again. “It’s dumb. But in the dream, we were best friends from childhood and grew up having adventures in your hometown, Destiny Island. And Kairi’s there, and so is Tidus–"

“Is Hayner?” Sora asked. Riku shook his head, and Sora gave a tentative grin. “I’m sure that would make him jealous.”

Riku shrugged awkwardly and kept talking. “And I guess I wanted a better adventure, and wanted to explore…” he screwed his face up, trying to remember the exact phrasing. “The outside world? I think was what I called it. Anyway, I guess I got my wish in the dream and I end up destroying the island when these monsters came.”

“Did _you_ call the monsters?” Sora asked, and Riku shook his head again. “But then it wasn’t your fault…”

“But it _felt_ like my fault,” Riku insisted, running a hand through his hair. “In the dream, I wanted power so badly that I started hurting people and …I…” He let out a groan and rested his hands against his face.

Sora frowned. “Where was I?” Riku didn’t react, so Sora leaned in closer. “You said I was on the island with you but…”

“You were there,” Riku said, his voice flat. “And you were on the good side. You fought the monsters. And we argued and this  _witch_ manipulated me – or I let myself be manipulated for power - and... And I… fought you.”

This was like pulling teeth. Awful, terrible, painful, and not forthcoming teeth, but Sora climbed off the couch and crawled beside Riku’s legs, threading his hands through Riku's hair. “And?”

Riku’s voice was no louder than a whisper. “And I fought you and I cut you down. And then you were just bleeding _everywhere_ and I realized I fucked up and I tried to save you but I _couldn’t_ and …. Sora. God, _Sora_ , every night, I’ve been dreaming about cutting you down and I can’t stop dreaming about it and now I _hurt_ you and…” There was sound, barely perceptible as a sniff and if Sora hadn’t been right there, he probably wouldn’t have heard it. “Sora, if I’m dreaming of things like that, what happens if I do hurt you?”

Sora ignored the throbbing on his cheek and wrapped his arms around Riku’s shoulders, resting his head Riku’s hair. “Riku,” Sora said softly. “Riku, it was just a nightmare.”

“But I keep dreaming about it and-" Riku argued, looking up, but Sora just rested his forehead against Riku’s.

“It was a shitty nightmare. Riku, you dork, I love you. And I know you’d never sell me out to some witch for power. But even if you did,” Sora added, as Riku looked ready to argue. “Even in your dream you tried to save me. So even in your weird quest for power, I was still more important.”

Riku nodded slightly, closing his eyes. Sora scooted closer, if such a thing could be possible.

“I love you,” Sora repeated, kissing Riku’s cheeks. “And if you’re about to go power hungry or something, we will talk about it and rule the world together. Or if you look like you’re about to hurt me, I will bring Kairi in to kick your ass.” He grinned as Riku let out a small snort. “But seriously. I trust you, okay? That’s why I agreed to marry you.”

It took a long moment, of Sora stroking Riku’s hair and Riku keeping his eyes tightly closed, before either of them moved. Sora could feel Riku was trying to move and inched back, before leaning forward again and wiping away the tears that had managed to slip from Riku’s eyes.

“I’m being dumb,” Riku said softly, head still down.

“Kinda,” Sora agreed, and grinned when Riku shot him a glare. It was a kinder, softer glare, due to the tear tracks still apparent on Riku's face and the bed hair and the late hour and, well, everything, but it was still a glare. Sora resisted the urge to ruffle Riku's hair. “But I still love you.”

“I love you too,” Riku said. And, as if he finally realized how late it was, he yawned, loud and long.

Climbing to his feet, Sora reached down and tugged Riku up. As Riku adjusted the package of peas against Sora’s face, Sora said, “Maybe we could add a ‘no following evil witches’ part of our vows?”

Riku looked like he was resisted the urge to groan, but Sora just snuggled in closer, smiling when Riku wrapped an arm around him.

“How about,” Sora added, as they approached the bedroom. “If, say, you start wandering down some dark path alone, I’ll stay with you and keep you safe.” Riku glanced down to him and Sora shrugged. “I mean, I will be your husband. That’s my job.”

There was a beat of silence, before Riku let out a laugh and tugged Sora close, hugging him. “Thanks, Sora,” he said, kissing the top of Sora’s head. “I really need that.”

Once they finally climbed back into bed and rearranged how they were sleeping (Sora decided that he was being the big spoon, goddammit), Riku turned and pulled Sora in for a kiss. “I’m so glad I met you,” he said, voice thick with exhaustion.

Sora smiled. “You too. Go to sleep.”

After a quick nod, Riku leaned against the pillow and was out like a light. Sora burrowed against his back and slowly fell asleep too.

And for the first time in a long time, they both slept peacefully through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Ps this is like the 7th time I've written about Riku having nightmares regarding his KH1 persona.  
> I just... I like to okay.  
> I LIKE TO.  
> *sobs*
> 
> (Yes I borrowed Aqua's quote. But whatever. She's not bothered by it.)


End file.
